Arrangement for connecting concrete or clay bricks, blocks, panels, and slabs

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for connecting members such as concrete or clay bricks, blocks, panels, and slabs together wherein the members are provided with opposed mating dovetail grooves when the members are positioned in end to end relationship. A hollow key member, the longitudinally extending surfaces of which are generally concave, is resilient or flexible and may be partially collapsed to fit within the mating dovetail grooves of the members to be interlocked together. The resiliency of the key member tends to expand it and thereby aid in retaining it in position as well as locking the members together.

United States Patent Martin 51 Aug. 1, 1972 [S4] ARRANGEMENT FORCONNECTING CONCRETE OR CLAY BRICKS, BLOCKS, PANELS, AND SLABS [72]Inventor: Charles H. Martin, Lafayette, La.

[73] Assignee: J. Brooke Hamilton, Lafayette, La.

a part interest [22] Filed: July 16, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 55,363

[52] US. Cl. ..52/438, 52/442, 52/586, 52/720 [51] Int. Cl ..E04c l/10[58] Field of Search ..52/438, 442, 585, 586, 621, 52/720 [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,423,695 7/1947 Falco ..52/582 X3,430,404 3/1969 Muse ..52/585 175,796 4/1876 Wands ..52/438 X 2,107,4182/1938 Keller ..52/621 X 2,225,612 12/1940 Allen ..52/586 2,863,18512/1958 Riedi ..287/20.92 K

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,258,423 3/1961 France ..52/585 PrimaryExaminer-Alfred C. Perham AttorneyJack W. Hayden [57] ABSTRACT Anarrangement for connecting members such as concrete or clay bricks,blocks, panels, and slabs together wherein the members are provided withopposed mating dovetail grooves when the members are positioned in endto end relationship. A hollow key member, the longitudinally extendingsurfaces of which are generally concave, is resilient or flexible andmay be partially collapsed to fit within the mating dovetail grooves ofthe members to be interlocked together. The resiliency of the key membertends to expand it and thereby aid in retaining it in position as wellas locking the members together.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ARRANGEMENT FOR CONNECTING CONCRETE OR CLAYBRICKS, BLOCKS, PANELS, AND SLABS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to an arrangement for connecting members suchas concrete or clay bricks, blocks, and the liketogether.

Some the prior art with which applicant is familiar is the patent to K.O. Knudsen, No. 3,296,758, issuedon Jan. 10, 1967. In this device, asolid wedge or key is employed in opposed grooves but an additionalinterlocking arrangement is provided in this patent for holding theadjacent rows in interlocked relationship.

The patent to J. Roe, No. 2,392,551., issued on Jan. 8, 1946 again showsa solid key, but such arrangement is not adaptable to concrete or claybrick structural members in use at the present time. The blocks of theRoe patent are not adapted to be made on a standard block machine, and,of course, it would be difficult to V align the hole in one row ofblocks with the wedges to be employed therewith.

In the Frink U.S. Pat., No. 1,816,322, a solid key is again employed,and a block construction is shown which is not adapted to be formed on astandard block machine.

In the Shannon U.S. Pat., No. 2,158,732, an arrangement for aligningblocks is provided, but such arrangement is not contemplated forpermanently retaining the blocks in position. It is contemplated thatother means will be employed for holding the aligned blocks andinterlocking them together.

i The Steuler U.S. Pat., No. 2,933,920, issued on Apr. 26, 1960, alsoshows a solid key adapted to be fitted in a groove, but where a solidkey is employed, it can be appreciated that there must be at least someclearance between the key and the groove in order to fit the key in thegroove, or the groove and key must be carefully formed or cut so theywill fit together.

In the Sams U.S. Pat., No. 3,292,331, another solid key arrangement isemployed which has the same objections as that previously noted with theSteuler patent.

From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that all of the prior artdevices with which applicant is familiar do not employ a means forconnecting members such as concrete or clay blocks, bricks, or panelsand slabs together in a relatively easy .and uncomplicated manner. Also,the prior art does not appear to show an arrangement employing a hollowkey which positions the structural members in both the vertical andhorizontal position and retains or interlocks them together in ahorizontal and vertical relationship.

It can be further appreciated that where solid keys are employed asillustrated by the prior art, or where specially cast units arerequired, additional time may be required to initially form the units aswell as thereafter lay the units and also either the labor employed inlaying the units must be trained or more skilled than that which isrequired in utilizing the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an arrangementfor interlocking concrete or clay bricks, blocks, panels, and slabs in ahorizontal and vertical direction. More particularly, the presentinvention can be employed on concrete or clay bricks, blocks, panels,and slabs with relatively unskilled labor.

The present invention employs concrete or clay bricks, blocks, panels,and slabs in which is cast or cut a dovetail groove for receiving ahollow key. The hollow key may be of any suitable material such asmetal, plastic, rubber, or other similar materials which will yield andmay be flexed for insertion in thegrooves of adjacent blocks for lockingthem together, and which key, by reason of its resiliency, tends toexpand and thereby lock the adjacent blocks together in a horizontalandvertical direction.

If desired, a projection can be provided on the key so that afterinserting longitudinally of adjacent blocks, it

will project upwardly therefrom for engagement with the next row ofblocks, bricks, or panels in the structure being formed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple andeconomical arrangement for interlocking concrete or clay bricks, blocks,panels, and

slabs in a horizontal and vertical direction to form a structure.

Still another object of the present invention is to use a hollow keywhich may be flexed and inserted within a groove to interlock structuralmembers together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT Attention is first directed to FIG. 1 of the drawings whereina plurality of members M is shown as being stacked to form a wall of abuilding or the like. The members M may be concrete or clay bricks,blocks, panels, or slabs.

of a preferred form of In FIG. 2, the members M are again shown in sec-'tional view with adjacent members M being represented at 10 and 11. Itwill be noted that their vertical edges abut as at 12 and 13 and thereis either cast or cut in the ends of the blocks 10 and 11 along theedges 12 and I3 dovetail grooves 15 and 16.

In FIG. 3, the longitudinally extending hollow key member 20 is shownand may be formed of any suitable materials such as metal, plastic, orthe like, which permits the hollow key member 20 to flex. As shown inFIG. 3, the key member 20 is provided with longitudinally extending sidesurfaces 21, 22, 23, and 25, all of which are of generally concaveconfiguration extending longitudinally of the key member 20. It will benoted the surface 25 is split as shown at 26 longitudinally thereofwhich more readily accommodates flexing or collapsing of the hollow keymember 20 to permit it to be inserted vertically within the matingdovetail grooves 15 and 16 formed in the abutting edges 12 and 13 of theblocks 10 and 11.

of the drawings. This enables the hollow key 20 to pro- 5 ject upwardlybeyond the edge 30 of the row 31 of members M so that the next adjacentrow 32 may be also engaged with the key member 20 and thereby lock therows 32 and 31 together vertically and horizontally.

Since the key member 20 is hollow, it can be appreciated that it may bereadily grasped and collapsed and the inherent resiliency thereof willtend to expand the key member 20 after it has been inserted in themating dovetail grooves and 16 so as to aid in locking the adjacentblocks 10 and 11 together as well as the adjacent rows 31 and 32 ofblocks M. Also, the generally longitudinally extending concaveconfiguration of the key member 20 further accommodates the collapsingof the key member 20 to aid in the insertion thereof into the dovetailgrooves 15 and 16, and also aids in the expansion thereof after it hasbeen seated within the groove so as to aid in interlocking the blockstogether. As shown in FIG. 1, the blocks are shown in a stack bond, thatis, where the edges of the blocks are aligned horizontally andvertically. Under those circumstances where a running bond is employedeither on concrete or clay, bricks, blocks, and panels, a dovetailgroove may be formed on the center web of the bricks, blocks, andpanels.

Where the invention is to be employed in a horizontal slab, the samemethod as that described hereinabove is employed except that the keymember 20 is inserted within the slab when it is in a horizontalposition in lieu of in a vertical position as shown in the drawing.

Under some circumstances, it may be desirable to provide additional bondbetween the blocks 10 and 11 and adjacent rows 31 and 32 as well as therow 33, and other rows forming the wall or structure. In suchcircumstances, cement or other grouting material may be employed andpoured in the dovetail grooves and in the hollow key member 20 after itis positioned.

From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that the present inventionprovides an arrangement for laying concrete or clay, bricks, blocks,panels, and slabs in a manner more readily than that heretoforeemployed. The construction and arrangement of the interlocking means issuch that it may be utilized by relatively unskilled labor, and afterthe blocks have been interlocked together, a suitable finishing surfacematerial may be provided thereon. Additionally, the present arrangementeliminates the need for masonry reinforcement whose principle purpose atthe present time is to aid in tying the concrete or clay bricks, blocks,panels, and slabs more tightly together.

The corner units have flush, plain ends. The dovetail groove is cast orcut in the side a distance from the end to provide a flush joint.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention areillustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size,shape, and materials, as well as in the details of the illustratedconstruction may be made within the scope of the appended claims What isclaimed is: 1. An arrangement for securing members in end-toend abuttingrelationship wherein the members each have a vertically extendingdovetail groove in their abutting ends comprising:

a. an elongated hollow key for fitting in the dovetail grooves in theabutting ends of the members to secure the members together, said keymember:

1. having four longitudinally extending side surfaces, each of which isof generally concave configuration;

2. one of said side surfaces having a split extending longitudinallythereof;

3. projections formed on said one side surface on each side of andadjacent the split; and

said key member positionable within the dovetail grooves so that one ofsaid projections engages the upper surface of one of the abuttingmembers and the other of said projections engages the upper surface ofthe other of the abutting members. and with the longitudinal splitcoinciding with the juncture of the abutting ends of the members.

2. A joint arrangement comprising:

a. two members in end-to-end abutting relationship;

b. each of said members having along their abutting ends opposed,complemental, aligned, longitudinally extending slots of dovetailtransverse crosssection;

c. an elongated, hollow key for fitting in the dovetail grooves in saidabutting ends of said members to secure said members together, said keymember:

1. having four longitudinally extending side surfaces, each of which isof generally concave configuration;

2. one of said side surfaces having a split extending longitudinallythereof;

3. projections formed on said one side surface on each side of andadjacent the split;

. said key member positionable within the dovetail grooves so that oneof said projections engages the upper surface of one of said abuttingmembers and the other of said projections engages the upper surface ofthe other of said abutting members, and with the longitudinal splitcoinciding with the juncture of the abutting ends of said memberswhereby said key member projects upwardly from said members;

e. an additional pair of members for resting on the 7 upper surface ofsaid two members; and f. each of said additional members having alongtheir abutting ends opposed, complemental, aligned, longitudinallyextending slots of dovetail transverse cross-section for engaging withsaid upwardly projecting key member to secure said additional members inend-to-end abutting relationship and in abutting relationship with theupper surface of said two members and with the longitudinal split insaid key member coinciding with the juncture of the abutting ends ofsaid additional members.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein said dovetail grooves and hollow keymember are filled with concrete.

1. An arrangement for securing members in end-to-end abuttingrelationship wherein the members each have a vertically extendingdovetail groove in their abutting ends comprising: a. an elongatedhollow key for fitting in the dovetail grooves in the abutting ends ofthe members to secure the members together, said key member:
 1. havingfour longitudinally extending side surfaces, each of which is ofgenerally concave configuration;
 2. one of said side surfaces having asplit extending longitudinally thereof;
 3. projections formed on saidone side surface on each side of and adjacent the split; and b. said keymember positionable within the dovetail grooves so that one of saidprojections engages the upper surface of one of the abutting members andthe other of said projections engages the upper surface of the other ofthe abutting members, and with the longitudinal split coinciding withthe juncture of the abutting ends of the members.
 2. one of said sidesurfaces having a split extending longitudinally thereof;
 2. A jointarrangement comprising: A. two members in end-to-end abuttingrelationship; b. each of said members having along their abutting endsopposed, complemental, aligned, longitudinally extending slots ofdovetail transverse cross-section; c. an elongated, hollow key forfitting in the dovetail grooves in said abutting ends of said members tosecure said members together, said key member:
 2. one of said sidesurfaces having a split extending longitudinally thereof;
 3. projectionsformed on said one side surface on each side of and adjacent the split;d. said key member positionable within the dovetail grooves so that oneof said projections engages the upper surface of one of said abuttingmembers and the other of said projections engages the upper surface ofthe other of said abutting members, and with the longitudinal splitcoinciding with the juncture of the abutting ends of said memberswhereby said key member projects upwardly from said members; e. anadditional pair of members for resting on the upper surface of said twomembers; and f. each of said additional members having along theirabutting ends opposed, complemental, aligned, longitudinally extendingslots of dovetail transverse cross-section for engaging with saidupwardly projecting key member to secure said additional members inend-to-end abutting relationship and in abutting relationship with theupper surface of said two members and with the longitudinal split insaid key member coinciding with the juncture of the abutting ends ofsaid additional members.
 3. The invention of claim 2 wherein saiddovetail grooves and hollow key member are filled with concrete. 3.projections formed on said one side surface on each side of and adjacentthe split; and b. said key member positionable within the dovetailgrooves so that one of said projections engages the upper surface of oneof the abutting members and the other of said projections engages theupper surface of the other of the abutting members, and with thelongitudinal split coinciding with the juncture of the abutting ends ofthe members.